Samsung announced a couple of months ago they are working on 12.5 inch laptops and it seems that some of their devices are already available in stores. They planed to include such mini laptops as part of their Series 2 and Series 4 lines. Couldn’t spot any Series 2 devices, which should be the entry-level options, but could spot a couple of the Series 4 ones on Samsung’s UK site (thanks @Hector for pointing them out).
Basically, the Series 4 12 inch laptops, also called Samsung NP-400B2Bs , target small and medium business owners looking for a portable and sturdy notebook they can take on the road, while providing enough power for all their needed apps and proper battery life.
On the outside you get a sober and robust casing, with metal hinges and tough chassis that should protect you device from falls (from up to 72 cms) and up to 500 kg of force applied on display’s LID. So you can literally step on this one (even drive you motorcycle over it) and it won’t break.
Samsung 400B2B 12 inch laptop targets portable business segment
Redesigned keyboard
Opening the lid, there’s a redesigned Full-Size keyboard, ergonomic and spill proof, plus a decent sized trackpad and a track-point, just like on the Lenovo ThinkPads. In fact, seeing this Samsung automatically makes you think how much it resembles a ThinkPad and that’s a good thing, considering those are probably the standard for portable business notebook these days.
There’s also a 12.5 inch HD display, 1366 x 768 px resolution with LED backlight and according to Samsung, improved brightness (uses 300nit panel). And it comes with a non-gloss coating so you’ll be able to use these outside easily.
Inside you get latest generation hardware. Available options currently come with the Core i3-2310 Sandy Bridge processor clocked at 2.1 GHz, 4 GB of memory, 500 GB hard-drive and Integrated Intel HD graphics capable of handling all sorts of multimedia content, including Full HD clips.
Powerful hardware
Add Wireless N, Bluetooth, Card-reader, docking system, Windows 7 Professional OS and a 6 Cell 5900 mAh battery and you get a very nice bundle for just under 600 pounds (that’s like 1000 bucks , but this one will actually be cheaper than that when and if it will reach the US).
More info via this link, on the UK Samsung Site. And in the future we should see better versions as well, with Core i5/i7 processors, more memory and maybe 3G modem and SSD storage.
All in all, the Samsung 400B2B is a device you have to consider if on the market for a high-end portable laptop and feels like the only worthy competitor for Lenovo’s ThinkPads in this class right now. It is also a part of my list of recommend 12 inch notebook (as of today).
Looking forward for more details about it and hopefully I will be able to get my hands on one of these in the near future and will get back with extra info
